How Not To Get Soaked When Buying That Dishwasher

RISMEDIA, February 17, 2009-(MCT)-For as long as there have been plates
and forks and hungry folk who have polished off a meal, theres been
the art-nay, chore-of doing dishes. As recently as 1970, 8 out of 10 American
households got the job done the old-fashioned way: scrubbing with soap
and sponge. Not so, of late. As of 2005, the latest available statistics
tell us nearly 74% of U.S. households now have a dishwasher. A machine
that does the dirty work once you rinse and load. OK, so maybe you dont
even rinse. Call me persnickety.

Because so many of us have delegated the dishes to the box beside the
sink, and because those boxes-a.k.a. dishwashers-eventually go kaput,
we thought you might want to know five things before trekking out to buy
a new version of the machine thats all but shoved aside elbow grease
and dishpan hands.

Heres what the folks who make, sell or repair dishwashers think
you should know.

1. Noise control. Who knew scraping off the caked-on macaroni
bits was such a noisy proposition? Actually, its not the scraping
thats so loud, its the grinding of the food bits by the built-in
disposal within every American-made dishwasher. Thats where most
dishwasher noise comes from, and thats why European models, which
dont have disposals but rather a simple strainer, make so little
noise. In fact, you might say they barely purr. The other factor affecting
noisewhich salespeople say is the No. 1 consumer concern when it
comes to dishwashers-is how much insulation surrounds the box. Chances
are, the more you pay, the more your dishwasher will purr instead of roar.

The average dishwasher registers around 52 decibels, which is louder
than a soft whisper in a library but softer than a quiet living-room conversation.
Even the quietest ones dont dip much below 47 decibels, according
to industry studies. Theres not a dishwasher on the market these
days as loud as that genteel living-room tete-a-tete. So the clunkers
of old, the ones that drowned out all talk, are pretty much on the scrap
heap of history.

2. Button up? Fess up, folks, just how many times do you think
youll really punch the baked-on cookware button up there
on the control panel? Maybe once a year, when you forget and leave the
pizza pan in the oven overnight? Maybe never? Heres a little secret
from the folks who sell these things: Think twice or thrice before falling
for every bell and whistle in the book. You pay for every one.

Dont spend money on cycles you wont use, says
Dennis Williams, who has been selling dishwashers for 15 years at Plass
Appliance in Chicago. At least 90% of the time, youll be using only
your normal cycle, salespeople agree, so try not to succumb to the urge
to splurge on every cutesy function.

Nearly every dishwasher on the market comes with a high-temp wash, which
heats water to 160 degrees (as opposed to the machines standard
temp of 110 to 120 degrees). Thats a smart option in cold-and-flu
season when you want to wipe out many nasty bacteria and viruses. And
it beats running your mitts under the hottest water you can stand.

3. The Durability Dept. Sorry, Mr. Maytag Repairman, were
not hankerin for a house call. Theres not much around the
house as bothersome as thinking youve run the dishes, only to find
the darn thing never started and wont without a call to the fix-it
shop. Durability is everything in the dishwashing world. Were going
out on a limb here and letting you know that in our unofficial survey
of three salesmen at top Chicago-area appliance centers, plus a crew of
repairmen, the one dishwasher that never seems to need repair is the German-made
Miele.

Nobodys ever called me to have one fixed, says Williams,
the Plass salesman. KitchenAid, according to folks in the appliance business,
is the American-made dishwasher likely to last the longest.

And, while youll pay for it, a stainless-steel interior compartment,
as opposed to a polymer plastic casing, provides superior durability (as
well as insulation from noise).

4. To drawer or not to drawer. Suddenly, it seems that every haute
kitchen must have drawers for everythingcertainly for washing dishes.

Maybe not so smart. Drawers take up 15% more space for the same internal
washing capacity. So if you stack two drawers on top of each other, youll
wind up with less dishwashing volume than you get in one conventional
dishwasher. However, if your household is small or you sometimes like
to wash just the glasses, a drawer will save you in the long run. Whereas
a conventional dishwasher consumes some 45 to 50 gallons of water per
load, a drawer will only use half that, says Herb Braidman, who has been
selling for 10 years at Abt Electronics and Appliances in Glenview, Ill.
Whats important to know is that its a give-and-take equation,
and youre the one who calculates the answer. One thing not to worry
about: Nearly all models these days are a standard 24 inches wide, so
in virtually every case, you can swap one model for another without having
to get out the buzz saw.

5. Getting started. And you thought you could just shove it in
the open space, connect some pipes and be done with it? Rule No. 1: Do
not skimp as far as installation. Dont think just anyone can get
that sleek new washer up and running without a kink or two.

Installation should run you anywhere from $120 to $160, according to
Chicago-area sources, and the installer often brings the dishwasher along,
so theres no extra delivery charge. You want someone who knows the
appliance inside and out. In other words, save yourself money and hassle
in the long run and get the job done right. Otherwise, youll have
the sponge out again-to mop up all the leaks.